A variety of retail locations (e.g., gas stations, mini-marts, convenience stores, etc.) sell brewed coffee “to-go” in convenient, carry-out cups. Often, the coffee is pre-prepared and kept hot in a pot at a self-service counter. The customer pours the coffee of their choice (e.g., regular or decaf) into a cup of the desired size, and adds any desired flavorings or condiments (e.g., cream, sugar, etc.). The costs associated with brewing the coffee and maintaining the self-service counter can be prohibitive. Accordingly, some retail outlets or other locations include self-contained automatic coffee making machines that allow the customer to choose between one or more types of coffee beverages (e.g., regular, decaf, espresso, latte, cappuccino, etc.).
Existing automatic coffee machines ameliorate some of the problems inherent with providing self-service coffee. However, existing machines still suffer from relatively high operational costs and limited capabilities.